Realty office workers spruce up senior center

May 26, 2010|Mike Rothman mkrothman@tribune.com

A day off from work is not always a day by the pool or at the beach. Sometimes it includes helping others.

With their office in West Boynton shut down for the day, employees from Keller Williams Realty set up shop May 13 as part of a new service initiative the company calls RED DAY, which stands for "Renew, Energize and Donate."

Donna Tavares, Keller spokeswoman, said this was the second year of RED DAY and a way for the company to positively affect the community in which its lives and works.

More than 40 Keller associates joined the more than 70,000 associates across the country helping local communities through volunteer work.

This year, the local office worked on the Boynton Beach Senior Center, 1021 S. Federal Highway, including beautifying the front patio with plants, fresh paint jobs and inside work.

"The seniors were just so cute," Tavares said. "We were wearing our red shirts, so they would always stop, look for a little while and then talk to us."

She said a mix of agents and staff came to help.

"Even though our office is located out west [8188 Jog Road], we called the city and asked for suggestions of where we could help," she said. "This is the motivation of one of the founding members to give back and help where we can."

Steve Lulkin, the center's supervisor, said the 40 associates that came out really helped a center that could use a facelift.

"They started at about 8 a.m. and finished at 3:30 p.m.," he said. "They pressure cleaned the front patio, painted the front of the building, repainted the game room and worked with our landscape."

He said the volunteers also brought new tables and chairs for the patio area as a place for seniors to sit and have a drink or snack.

"They came to us and said they wanted to work with seniors, so they chose us and I'm glad they did," he said.

Allan Spiro, the Keller office's team leader, said he chose the Senior Center because of how much it does for the elderly.

He said the goal was to do what his company could to enhance the facility that keeps seniors active.

Last year, the inaugural year of RED DAY, the entire company throughout the country and Canada donated more than 130,000 volunteer hours in local communities like Boynton Beach.